Rotary roast rack



Nov. 15, 1966 M.J. SMlTH ROTARY ROAST RACK Filed March 2, .1964

//7 ken 250/" Mah/on IJ'm/zf United States Patent 3,285,160 ROTARY ROAST RACK Mahlon J. Smith, Niles, Mich., assignor to The Washburn Company, Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Mar. 2, 1964, Ser. No. 348,587 8 Claims. (Cl. 99-427) This invention relates to a rotary roast rack for use in the broiling and roasting of meats and other foods over an open fire, as in a brazier in outdoor broiler units, the present construction being particularly adapted for the barbecuing of roasts, turkeys, chickens, and the like.

The principal object of my invention is to provide improvements on the constructions disclosed in my prior Patents 3,049,072 and 3,084,615, and more specifically in the following areas:

(1) The threaded studs, onto which two open rectangular wire meat clamping frames that turn with the larger open rectangular wire main frame of the rack and are adjustably secured by wing nuts threaded on studs carried on opposite ends of the main frame to clamp the meat firmly therebetween, have sleeves of square cross-section that are slidably inwardly over the two coaxially arranged square shafts which are adapted to be rigidly secured on opposite ends of the main frame, so that these studs when not in use can be removed and turned at right angles and disposed in parallelism with the main frame with the other two frames for compact storage and, what is more important, for much more compact packaging of the roast rack in the first instance, so that a much smaller and cheaper package can be used than was heretobefore required;

(2) The main frame carries collars on opposite ends each slitlably receiving a square shaft of suitable length, both adapted to be secured in place by means of set screws when the desired overall length of rack is obtained by proper adjustment of said shafts endwise in the collars, thereby insuring universal adaptability of the roast rack to different sizes of braziers, one of these shafts having driving connection with a motor on one end wall of the hood of the broiler, while a collar adjustably secured on the other shaft on the other end of the rack provides a good bearing in the slot in the other end wall of the hood, the shafts by virtue of the collars, being also slidable inwardly within the dimensions of the main frame, so as to further reduce the overall size of carton required and effect a further saving in packaging cost and reduce the space required in storage of the rack when not in use, and

(3) That one of the shafts connectable with the motor is preferably provided with a reduced end portion to suit an installation where it is necessary to reduce from a square shaft to a inch square shaft to fit a A inch receptacle on the motor and, if desired, I may provide an additional adapter sleeve to fit on one end of the same shaft to increase from a inch square shaft to a inch square shaft for drive connection with a inch receptacle.

The invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the rotary roast rack of my invention removed from the broiler to better illustrate its construction;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are perspective views of the driven end portion of the rack on a larger scale showing the square shaft inserted two different ways in the collar for connection with a inch receptacle in FIG. 2 by use of the reduced end portion, and a inch receptacle in FIG. 3, by use of an adapter sleeve applied over the other end portion of the shaft, and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an outdoor broiler showing my rotary roast rack installed therein.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts throughout the views.

Referring to the drawing, the reference numeral 11 designates the rotary roast rack of my invention generally, shown installed in an outdoor barbecuing unit 12, the hood or cover portion 13 of which has a bearing slot 14 in one end wall thereof and a motor 15 mounted on the outer side of the opposite end wall having the usual reduction gearing in the housing thereof to enable slow speed driving of the rack 11 over the brazier 16 containing the glowing briquets 17 for the roasting or broiling of whatever meat is clamped in the rack. The rack is supported by coaxially aligned square shafts 18 and 19 on opposite ends of the main frame 20 for rotation on a horizontal axis while driven by motor 15, shaft 18 having a bearing collar 21 slidably adjustable secured thereon by means of a set screw 22, the collar having an annular groove 23 fitting in the slot 14 for bearing support on the hood 13, while shaft 19 is detachably engaged in a socket in a receptacle 24 forming a part of a slow speed drive gear driven by motor 15. The rack 11, similarly as in my two prior patents, 3,049,072 and 3,084,615, comprises the previously mentioned main wire frame 20, which is generally rectangular, from the opposite ends of which the shafts 18 and 19 extend on the longitudinal center line thereof, and opposed smaller rectangular wire frames 25 and 26 on opposite sides of frame 20 which have projecting U-shaped loops 27 engaging over threaded studs 28 and 29 disposed in right angle relationship to the frames 20, 25 and 26 and shafts 18 and 19 and having wing nuts 30 threaded thereon and bearing against the projections to force the frames 25 and 26 towards each other to clamp the meat, such as a roast indicated at 31 in FIG. 4 firmly between these frames broiling thereof.

In accordance with the present invention:

(1) The threaded studs 28 and 29 are welded at the midpoints thereof to one side of square sleeves 32 which are slidably engaged on shafts 18 and 19, thereby enabling easy removal from and replacement of the studs on the shafts, so that the studs can be laid fiat in the plane of the frame 20 along with frames 25 and 26 in the storage and shipment of the rotary roast rack, and a much smaller package can be used than would otherwise be necessary and a sizable saving is effected without causing any inconvenience for the user of the rotary roast rack;

(2) the main frame 20 is made from two generally U-shaped pieces of heavy wire, the extremities 33 and 34 of which are welded onto the ends of collars 35 disposed inside the frame 20 and having square bores 36 provided therein in which the shafts 18 and 19 are slidably adjustable endwise and adapted to be secured in adjusted position by means of set screws 37 threaded in radial holes 38 provided in the collars, thus permitting sliding the shafts 18 and 19 inwardly to the point where the carton for shipment of the rotary roast rack need not be much longer than the frames 20, 25 and 26, thereby realizing a further sizable saving in packaging costs, and, of course, reducing the space required in the storage of the rotary roast rack when not in use, and

(3) To make the rotary roast rack universally adapt able to different makes of broilers having different sized sockets or receptacles 24 on the drive motors 15 I provide the shaft 19 with a stepped end 39 to reduce from a inch square shaft to a inch square shaft to fit a inch receptacle 24, the shaft 19 being shown reversed end for end in FIG. 2 in relation to the way it is shown in FIG. 1 where the inch end is shown disposed for engagement in a & inch receptacle, while FIG. 3 shows the same setup as in FIG. 1 but having a inch square sleeve 40 mounted on the end of shaft 19 opposite the reduced end 39 to permit driving the rotary roast rack with a motor having a inch receptacle 24, so that with only the one 3 shaft 19 and a small sleeve 40 I am enabled to apply the roast rack with equal facility to three different sizes of receptacles, namely 1, inch, inch, and inch.

In operation, the shafts 18 and 19 are first adjusted endwise relative to cellars 35 and then the set screws 37 are tightened and studs 28 and 29 are mounted on the shafts and frames 25 and 26 are applied to clamp the meat for broiling. It is a simple matter during the broiling to stop the motor 15 and tighten the nuts 30 to compensate for shrinkage and/ or correct for an unbalanced condition.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. In a rotary roast rack comprising a substantially horizontal generally rectangular open main frame, a pair of substantially vertical threaded studs disposed on the longitudinal center line of said main frame at opposite ends thereof, a pair of substantially horizontal meat clamping frames of generally rectangular form having stud encircling loops projecting outwardly horizontally from their opposite ends on their longitudinal center lines and loosely slidably engaged on the studs to mount said frames thereon above and below the main frame for movement inwardly toward one another to clamp meator other food therebetween, and nuts threaded on said studs against said stud encircling loops to apply the clamping pressure on said meat clamping frames, the improvement which consists in the provision of a pair of collars rigidly secured to the opposite ends of the main frame on the center line thereof in coaxial relationship to one another, a pair of shafts removable from the slidably adjustable endwise in said collars in coaxial relationship to one another, one of said shafts being adapted to be connected with rack drive means while both shafts are adapted to support said rack for rotation on a horizontal axis, and sleeves rigidly' secured to said studs intermediate their ends and supported by telescoping engagement with said shafts.

2.. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein the main frame comprises two coplanar generally U-shaped wire parts disposed in opposed relation with the arms at each end of the frame aligned and in end to end relation and secured at their extremities to the respective collars.

3. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein the collars are disposed inside the main frame and secured at their outer ends to the end portions of said frame, whereby to reduce the overall length of said main frame to a minimum.

4. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least one of said shafts is of polygonal cross-section for driving connection with the drive means, said shaft being reversible end for end and one end portion being different from the otherend portion so as to permit use interchangeably of whichever end portion will fit a socket provided in a given drive means.

5. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least one of said shafts is of polygonal cross-section for driving connection with the drive means, said shaft being reversible end for end and one end portion being of smaller size than the other end portion so as to permit use interchangeably of whichever end portion will fit a socket provided in a given drive means. 6. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least one of said shafts is of polygonal cross-section for driving connection with the drive means, the device including an adapter sleeve of polygonal cross-section adapted to fit over one end of said shaft to fit a socket in a drive means of larger size than will fit the end portion of said shaft.

7. A device as set forth in claim 1 including means for securing one of said shafts against endwise movement relative to the collar in which it is engaged.

8. A device as set forth in claim 1 including means for securing said shafts against endwise movement relative to said collars.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,666,394 4/1928 Miglin 99--421 3,049,072 8/ 1962 Smith 99-427 3,084,615 4/ 1963 Smith 99427 X 3,084,618 4/ 1963 Dieterich 99-427 3,147,690 9/1964 Smith 99-427 X 3,196,776 7/1965 Morton 9942l WALTER A. SCHEEL, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A ROTARY ROAST RACK COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL GENERALLY RECTANGULAR OPEN MAIN FRAME, A PAIR OF SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL THREADED STUDS DISPOSED ON THE LONGITUDINAL CENTER LINE OF SAID MAIN FRAME AT OPPOSITE ENDS THEREOF, A PAIR OF SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL MEAT CLAMPING FRAMES OF GENERALLY RECTANGULAR FORM HAVING STUD ENCIRCLING LOOPS PROJECTING OUTWARDLY HORIZONTALLY FROM THEIR OPPOSITE ENDS ON THEIR LONGITUDINAL CENTER LINES AND LOOSELY SLIDABLY ENGAGED ON THE STUDS TO MOUNT SAID FRAMES THEREON ABOVE AND BELOW THE MAIN FRAME FOR MOVEMENT INWARDLY TOWARD ONE ANOTHER TO CLAMP MEAT OR OTHER FOOD THEREBETWEEN, AND NUTS THREADED ON SAID STUDS AGAINST SAID STUD ENCIRCLING LOOPS TO APPLY THE CLAMPING PRESSURE ON SAID MEAT CLAMPING FRAMES, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH CONSISTS IN THE PROVISION OF A PAIR OF COLLARS RIGIDLY SECURED TO THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE MAIN FRAME ON THE CENTER LINE THEREON IN COAXIAL RELATIONSHIP TO ONE ANOTHER, 